Have you ever been in a situation where you were reporting to a PMO director and you wonder what value this person brings to the table? You romanticize about how much more productive you would be if you didn’t have to jump through his hoops. Better yet, you consider how much better off you – and all the other PMs - would be if you were running the show. Or at least if you got to handpick his successor. Am I striking a chord here? Of course I am.

I’m going to state what I think a good PMO director needs to bring to the table. I’m hoping on the couple of occasions so far where I’ve run the show that I did bring these things to the table. At least I know I tried. And I will say that sometimes the organizational chemistry and process flow doesn’t always allow for the utopia that I’m going to describe. But getting somewhere close would be nice.

#1 – Manage the PMO, not a bunch of projects

The PMO director really needs to be a leader of people, not projects. I’m so tired of seeing PM’s who are spending most of their time leading the big projects also acting in the role of PMO director. It’s just not right. The PMO director needs to establish processes, identify training needs, knock down barriers, make connections, and fight for the PMO’s presence in the organization. He needs to be putting the proper tools in the hands of the PMs like reusable templates, the proper planning documents and an easy to use project management tool that makes project collaboration easy. It’s how the viability of the PM processes is maintained. You can’t rely on the CEO to suddenly think what you’re doing matters. Not when so many projects fail or have major issues. No, someone must be championing the organization. That’s the director. If he’s leading five projects of his own, he can’t do that. No one can.

#2 – Know your organization

The PMO director must know the organization. He must know how get information, favors, resources, and support. Unless it’s a startup situation, it’s very difficult to bring in an outsider as the director and have them be immediately useful. It’s better to bring outsiders in as PMs and promote a good leader to this role.

#3 – Care about the PM’s, not the politics

The PMO director must be ready to fight for the project managers in the PMO like the PMs fight for their customers. I’m sorry, but if I’m being pulled two ways – one way by senior management and one way by the customer – it’s usually going to be the customer’s concerns that I react to first. Likewise, the PMO director should be more concerned about his organization and fighting for it rather than playing a lot of politically games for senior management – unless that is in the best interests of the PMO itself. So many PMOs fail, they need a strong leader fighting to keep it viable.

#4 – Communicate well

Above all else – just like with any project manager – the PMO director must be a great communicator. Company policies, processes, planning, etc. must all come from this individual. And he must be a good listener because there are lots of project issues that arise that PMs need help with. Their success must be his utmost concern.

Conclusion

So, can I fire my PMO director? Well, sort of. If the needs of the project managers are not being met and if the PMO is faltering because of a lack of organized, efficient, and effective leadership, then waiting will only mean projects will fail. Customers will be lost. The company bottom line will take a huge hit. And so will careers. Staying quiet is not in anyone’s best interest. If it’s a common feeling (and not just your own grudge) that the PMO leadership is ineffective, it must be taken up the chain of command. And yes, then you can fire your PMO director. It would be your duty to do so.

If you or your organization is in need of an affordable, easy to adopt, and fully functional project management and collaboration tool, you should check out Dooster. Go here to try it for free.

Let’s take a break from the serious tech talk and focus on the Holidays. We’re always so consumed with what’s being said on Mashable or our Linkedin Groups. We’re constantly tweeting, sharing and commenting on everything, and it always seems like we don’t have any time to stop, and think about our friends and family – unless they’re in our newsfeed.

Well, it’s that time of year again – the time when you run around looking for the perfect gift, asking yourself who likes what and where to get it. This year why don’t you take a different stress-free and eco-friendly approach, and grab some special virtual and digital gifts for your favourite entrepreneur!

Here are four ideas that just might fit your budget and their lifestyle…

Evernote Applicationsource: laughingsquid.com

Evernote is a wicked (and free!) application that helps you remember everything and keep it all in one place! Take notes anywhere from the ‘real world’ and store them in your ‘virtual world’, create a library of web pages that you can refer to at any time, and even scan all your travel documents and pull them out when need be! Evernote keeps you and your memory in check.

SharePoint Hosting 2010source: blog.sherweb.com

This is a great gift for the entrepreneur who’s managing their own team. SharePoint Hosting 2010 is one of the most cost-effective ways to implement and manage any high-performance website or collaboration project. It’s also extremely affordable starting at just $8.95 a month! Some the features include: document sharing, social-media orientation and absolute access.

FlightTrack Prosource: knowyourmobile.com

If your entrepreneur is always on the go flying around the world or even just to the next city, why not get them FlightTrack Pro. This amazing application imports data from your airline confirmation email to give you all the info you need about delays, gate changes, cancellations and even alternate boarding plans. To top it all off, you even get full satellite and weather images, and maps of the airport terminals all for $9.99!

Celluon Virtual Laser Keyboardsource: techbugs.net

Let’s be honest, nothing looks cooler than a laser keyboard. The Celluon Virtual Laser Keyboard (VKB) works with any device that has Bluetooth HID, and it’s the only keyboard that operates in complete darkness. This special laser keyboard works via its “magic cube”, which studies your finger movements to interpret and record your keystrokes. The VKB acts just like any other keyboard (even replicates the “tapping” sound effect) expect when it’s not in use it completely disappears – giving you back that desk room. You can get the VKB for around $160 bucks.

For more ideas check out YFS Magazine’s Holiday Gift Guide. And if you’re really stuck you could always give giftcards or money! Everyone loves money.

Authors:

Brad Egeland

Brad Egeland has over 25 years of professional IT experience as a developer, manager, project manager, consultant and author. He has written more than 6,000 expert online articles, eBooks, white papers and video articles for clients worldwide. If you want Brad to write for your site, contact him.